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RICKMAN AND SCOTT: TWO CONTRASTING NAVAL CAREERS
The naval careers of
John Rickman and Alexander Scott are both remarkable, as is the contrast
between them, though neither has a close link with Henry Cort.
John Rickman may be
connected through Titchfield. His origin is uncertain, but there is a good
chance that his is the baptism recorded there on 30 October 1737, son of
William Rickman “of Posbrook” (in Titchfield parish), one of Portsmouth’s
mayors. Another John Rickman, probably a
close relation, is an associate of Asher Humphries, steward to the Titchfield
estate.
There is a further,
tenuous, connection. For much of the
period from 1755 to 1757 while Rickman is serving on the Blandford, the
ship’s master is Edward Pulliblank, who later uses Cort as his agent.
Alexander Scott has
a loose family connection with the Corts, through the marriage of his widowed sister-in-law
Jane to Elizabeth Cort’s nephew Michael Thomas Becher.
John Rickman
Rickman’s naval
career starts aboard the Blandford in 1755. His rapid rise to the rank of midshipman suggests
that he springs from a rich, influential or noble family and is destined to
become an officer. Sure enough, on 12
March 1760 he takes the lieutenant’s examination
common to men following this route to a commission.
There is no
suggestion in the record (National Archives, ADM107/5) that he has fallen short
in meeting the exam’s requirements.
Furthermore, this date being in the middle of a war, one would expect
his commission to follow shortly. Archibald Dickson, examined in February 1759, gets his
commission within seven months. Rickman
has to wait over fifteen years. Little
is known of his career during this period, so there may be substance in the
suggestion that he transfers to the Merchant Navy for much of the time.
One should note,
however, that a future shipmate, John Gore, also examined in 1760, is not
commissioned until July 1768, having served as master’s mate on HMS Dolphin
during her circumnavigation of the globe in 1766. His first post as lieutenant is aboard Cook’s
ship Endeavour for another worldwide trip.
So it’s not so
surprising to find a posting for Rickman as master’s mate on HMS Bristol
in October 1775. After transfer to the Carcass
as a supernumerary on 24 January 1776, his commission arrives on 8th
February, shortly before taking up Second Lieutenant’s post on HMS Discovery,
which accompanies Cook’s ship Resolution on another voyage of
exploration.
When Cook dies on 14
February 1779, Discovery’s commander, Charles Clerke, takes over on Resolution,
while Gore takes over captaincy of Discovery. Among the changes following Clerke’s death on
23 August 1779, Rickman transfers to Resolution.
After the
expedition’s return to Britain in October 1780, he is on half pay until 14 June
1781. He then takes command of the Sally
storeship, though his rank remains as lieutenant. He remains as lieutenant for a spell on board
Goliath (August-September 1786), followed by an extended period on half
pay, during which he receives an “allowance during time employed on shore at
Lymington" in 1791 (ADM18/120).
Still without
promotion to captain, he takes command, first on Victory during her
spell as a prison ship at Chatham (1798-9), then on hospital ship Union
(September 1801), which changes her name to Sussex the following
February. Some time after this he
becomes warden of Woolwich Yard, ending on 18 November 1806.
On 21 October 1807
he enters Greenwich Hospital. The entry
in the admissions book shows him as “Lieutenant”, which is evidently a post at
the hospital, while still receiving half pay as lieutenant. Here, approaching the age of 80, he is said
to marry 23-year-old Hannah Jannett Pulliblank, granddaughter of Blandford’s
former master Edward Pulliblank. No
record of the wedding has yet been found.
Furthermore,
although the baptisms of two children of this supposed marriage are registered,
and Hannah signs as their mother for entry to a school for officers’ children,
I have found no record of her being paid a widow’s
pension after John Rickman’s death on 22 April 1818.
Alexander Scott
Recent (July 2010)
contact with a descendant of his elder brother Robert has filled in something
of Alexander Scott’s origins. He is born
in Leith (near Edinburgh), probably in 1739.
His father, captain of a merchant ship, supports the 1745 rebellion, and
is said to be found hanging from a tree after the Battle of Culloden. The family escape to Rotherhithe (south east
London), then a stronghold for Jacobite dissidents.
By the age of eleven
both boys have managed to enrol in the Royal Navy. Their early careers do not seem to have been
unduly blighted by their father’s transgressions. Indeed, Robert becomes a lieutenant in
September 1760 (I have found no evidence of either taking a lieutenant’s
examination).
Alexander’s career,
despite an early promotion to midshipman, seems to have stalled when he becomes
master of the Merlin sloop in January 1769. In other naval careers I have studied, there
are no instances of a ship’s master being given a commission. But for Alexander Scott fate takes a hand.
The island of
Arguin, off the coast of Africa, has been intermittently under European control
for much of the century. The natives are
unpredictable, as Merlin’s captain Francis O’Hara and his crew discover
to their cost.
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The
Tender anchored near us and Informed us that Capn O’Hara two
Midshipmen and four Seamen were most cruelly Murdered on the Island of Arguin
the remaining people on the Tender seeing them do this fired among them Grape
Shot and did some Execution, the Moors then began to Launch their Canoes in
order to board the Tender which they perceived and now being only nine in
Number and Night coming on they thought it most Eligible to Cut both Cables
and put to sea rather than fall into such barbarous peoples hands who the day
before had been on bd and had Received several presents in an
Amicable manner. Lieut Burr has
appointed himself Captain Mr Alexr Scott he also appointed
Lieutenant and Mr William Robinson Mate to be Master. From Merlin
master’s log (ADM52/1361) 15 June 1769. |
On 1st
July, after Merlin rejoins the fleet, a new captain, Thomas Male, is
appointed. Scott remains as
lieutenant. A second stroke of fortune
ends Male’s life on 5th August, and Scott takes over as
commander. The following March he is
confirmed in the post, though he has to wait until April 1776 for official
advancement to captain’s rank.
During the American
War of Independence he loses an arm in an engagement off South Carolina. On his return to England he is given a shore
job, responsible for pressganging in the Poole area. His services are recognised in 1794 by
superannuation with the rank of read admiral.
He retires to Southampton and becomes involved in local politics,
serving as Mayor in 1796 and 1802. He
dies in 1811.
Before this family
contact, I had muddled him with another Alexander Scott on the island of
Grenada. Both Alexander Scotts have a
nephew named Alexander John Scott. The
admiral’s nephew (whose mother marries Michael Thomas
Becher) becomes a ship’s chaplain, achieving fame when he ministers to
Nelson on his deathbed.
Comparison of careers
Rickman starts as the favoured one: he takes the
lieutenant’s examination, but from this point his advancement is painfully
slow. He takes over 15 years to reach
the rank of lieutenant, and remains there until his death 42 years later.
Scott, on the other hand, starts with the handicap of
a rebel father, and takes some 11 years to reach the rank of ship’s
master. A couple of accidents then
propels him upwards: ship’s commander in just over six months, finishing his
career as a rear admiral.
To my question “is the contrast entirely due to
chance?”, Rickman descendant Tony Farrington has suggested his treatment was a
form of punishment. A journal of Cook’s
voyage, published shortly afterwards, was believed to be Rickman’s work.
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All journals should
be handed into the Admiralty by officers on returning from such important
duties as the Cook expedition. From
email from Tony Farrington to Eric Alexander, 3 March 2009. |
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Related pages |
henrycort.net
noricscot